Continuous diamond girdle polishing machine

ABSTRACT

A CONTINUOUS DIAMOND GIRDLE POLISHING MACHINE COMPRISES A DIAMOND HOLDER DRIVEN ABOUT THE AXIS PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF THE DIAMOND GIRDLE, A POLISHING WHEEL DRIVEN ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS, AND AN OSCILLATING BAR ACTING AGAINST ONE OF THE ABOVE, PREFERABLY THE DIAMOND HOLDER, TO EFFECT A CONTINUOUS RECIPROCATION OF THE DIAMOND ACROSS THE POLISHING WHEEL DURING THE POLISHING OPERATION.

March 9, 1971 E. GWIRCMAN 3,568,363

CONTINUOUS DIAMOND GIRDLE POLISHING MACHINE Filed June 5, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGII} INVENTOR EFRAIM 'GWIRCMAN ATTORNEY March 9, 1971 I E. GWIRCMAN 1,

CONTINUOUS DIAMOND GIRDLE POLISHING MACHINE Filed.June 5, 1968 I v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m l il' v i ill! 1| ii I EH FIGQ EFRAIM GWIRQMAN United States Patent O 3,568,368 CONTINUOUS DIAMOND GIRDLE POLISHING MACHINE Efraim Gwircmau, 387 S. 1st St, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11211 Filed June 3, 1968, Ser. No. 733,986 Int. Cl. B24b 3/00; B2811 5/00 US. Cl. 51-95 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A continuous diamond girdle polishing machine comprises a diamond holder driven about the axis perpendicular to the plane of the diamond girdle, a polishing wheel driven about a horizontal axis, and an oscillating bar acting against one of the above, preferably the diamond holder, to effect a continuous reciprocation of the diamond across the polishing wheel during the polishing operation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates to a diamond polishing machine, and particularly to a machine especially useful for continuously polishing the diamond girdle, i.e. the rim of the cut diamond.

Description of the prior art SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The diamond girdle polishing machine of the present invention comprises a diamond holder which is rotated about the axis perpendicular to the plane of the diamond girdle, a holder for a polishing wheel or disc which is rotated about the horizontal axis, and a pivotally mounted bar continuously oscillating about its pivotal axis and acting against one of the above, preferably the diamond holder, to effect a continuous reciprocatory movement in the horizontal plane between the diamond and the polishing wheel as both are rotated by their respective drives. The machine provides for a wide range of movements of the diamond holder with respect to the polishing wheel.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is herein described, somewhat schematically and by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a continuous diamond girdle polishing machine constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view along lines II-II of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view along lines IIIIII of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The polishing machine illustrated in the drawings includes a pair of spindles 2 for holding the diamond D between them in position to be polished by a diamond- 3,568,368 Patented Mar. 9, 1971 impregnated polishing disc or wheel 4. The latter is made of copper, brass or resin impregnated with diamond powder and is supported on a table 6 fixed by stand 8 to the base 10 of the machine. Diamond wheel 4 is continuously rotated about a horizontal axis by an electric motor 12 coupled to the drive shaft 14 of the polishing wheel by a belt coupling 15, the transmission extending through side plate 16 and sleeve 17.

The diamond holder spindles 2 are rotated about the vertical axis, perpendicular to the plane of the diamond girdle. The drive includes electric motor 18, sprocket wheel 20, chain 22, sprocket wheel 24, shaft 26, bevel gears 28, 29 and gears 30, 32 meshing respectively with gears 34, 36 carried by the spindles 2. The spindles are carried by a U-shaped head 38, each spindle being retained by a bar 40. One end of each of the latter bars bears against the end of the spindle passing through the head, each bar being supported by a bifurcated pin 42. A spring 44 acts against the opposite end of each bar to cause the former end to apply the proper retaining pressure against the spindle.

The diamond holding spindles 2 may also be driven manually by a hand-wheel 46, the latter being coupled by sprocket wheel 47, chain 48 and sprocket Wheel 49 to the drive shaft 26. The two drives are selectively connectable by tightening either screw 50 or 51 for coupling either sprocket 24 or 49 to drive shaft 26. A knob 52 fixed to shaft 26 may also be used for manually rotating the diamond holding spindles.

The machine includes means for effecting a continuous reciprocatory movement in the horizontal plane (i.e., perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the diamond, or parallel to the plane of its girdle) between the diamond and the polishing wheel 4 as both are rotated by their respective drives. For this purpose there is provided a bar 54 pivotably mounted about vertical axis 56 to a post 58 secured to the base 10 of the machine. One end of bar '54 is continuously oscillated by means of a cam 60 having a slot 60 cooperable with a follower 61 (FIG. 2) fixed to the bar. Cam 60 is disposed between a pair of fixed side plates 62 and is continuously rotated by an electric motor 64 coupled to the cam through coupling 66. The opposite end 54' of oscillating bar 54 passes through a guide-way formed in a block 68 supporting the spindle head 38 together with its electrical drive '18 and manual drive 46. Block 68 is milled to form a large, lower slot 70 (FIG. 3) and a smaller, upper slot 72. End 54' of oscillating bar 54 is disposed within slot 70 and is also slotted at that end, at 54" for receiving a pin 73 carried by block 68. A post 74 is pivotably mounted to block 68 by means of a horizontal shaft 75 straddling slot 72. Post 74 carries the spindle head 38, the manual drive '46 and also the electric motor 18 drive, the latter being mounted thereto by a bracket 76.

Block 68 is slidably supported on a pair of rods 77 fixed to a second block 78, the side Walls of the latter block being spaced sufficiently apart to permit block :68 to reciprocate back and forth on rods 77 during the abovedescribed oscillating movement of bar 54.

It will be seen that as motor 64 rotates, end 5-4 of bar 54 is caused to oscillate continuously about vertical axis 56 by means of cam 60 driven by the motor, and that this oscillating movement of the bar is transmitted through block 68 and post 74, the latter acting as a coupling to spindle head 38, so that the diamond carried between the spindles 2 will be continuously reciprocated back and forth in a horizontal plane, i.e. parallel to the plane of the diamond girdle, during the polishing operation. In this manner the Wear on the polishing wheel 4 will be evenly distributed across the polishing Wheel.

In addition, it will be seen that head 38 may be pivoted about shaft 75 parallel to the axis of rotation of the 3 polishing wheel 4, so as to bring different surfaces of the diamond, particularly the diamond girdle, into contact with the polishing wheel. Further, the head 38 may also be pivoted about shaft 26, i.e., about an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the wheel 4, for the same purpose.

The spindle head 38 may also be moved rectilinearly toward and away from the polishing wheel 4. For this purpose, block 78 is slidably supported on a further pair of rods 80 fixed to the base of the machine by a pair of bars 82. A hand wheel or screw 84, threaded in the middle, is journalled between the bars 82 and threadedly receives block 78. Thus, by rotating the hand wheel or screw 84, block 78 will be moved along rods 80, and this will carry with it block 68 and the spindle head 38 supported by it. During this movement of block 68, pin 73 moves within slot 54" of the oscillating bar 54.

If desired, a micro-switch 86- having a protruding operator 86' may be fixedly supported with respect to machine base 10 so as to be actuated by a leaf spring 87 engageable by a roller 88 carried by post 74 of the spindle head 38 as the latter is moved toward the polishing wheel 4, thereby to turn-on the electric power to the various drives when the diamond has been moved into position with respect to the polishing wheel.

The electric control box 90 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes main switch 91, motor 18 switch 92, motor 64 switch 93, motor 12 switch 94, circuit breaker 95 for motor 64, and safety fuse 96 for the complete circuit. Micro-switch 86 controls the power to the complete-circuit except for main switch 91.

The operation of the machine illustrated will be apparent from the foregoing description. The operator inserts the diamond between spindles 2, and then advances the head 38 into polishing position with respect to the polishing wheel 4 by rotating hand wheel 84. Roller 88 actuates switch 86 to turn-on the power, causing motor 12 to rotate the polishing wheel, motor 18 to rotate the diamond holding spindles 2, and motor 64 to rotate cam 60 which causes the head 38 and the diamond to oscillate across the polishing wheel. The head 38 may be manually pivoted about axes 75 and 26 to bring diflerent surfaces of the diamond into contact with the polishing wheel.

As one example, the polishing wheel or disc 4 may be about inch in width, the amplitude of the reciprocatory movement of head 38 effected by oscillating bar 54 being approximately equal to the width of the polishing wheel.

While the invention is described with respect to one preferred embodiment thereof, it will be appreciated that many changes, variations, and other applications of the invention can be made.

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous diamond girdle polishing machine, comprising: a holder for the diamond to be polished, a. drive for rotating said diamond holder about the axis perpendicular to the plane of the diamond girdle, a holder for a polishing device, a drive for rotating said polishing device holder, a pivotably mounted bar, a cam follower carried by said bar at one side of said pivotal mounting, a continuously rotated cam acting on said cam follower for continuously oscillating said bar about its pivotal mounting, and a coupling between one of said holders and said bar at the opposite side of its pivotal mounting efiecting a continuous reciprocatory movement, in the direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the diamond holder, between the diamond holder and the polishing device holder as both holders are rotated by their respective drives.

2. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said coupling includes a first block formed with an opening receiving said opposite side of said bar, a second block formed with spaced end walls between which said first block reciprocates, and a vertical post connecting said first block to the holder reciprocated by said bar.

3-. A machine as defined in claim 2, wherein said diamond holder is carried by a head pivotably mounted to said post about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the polishing device holder.

4. A machine as defined in claim 3, wherein said post is pivotably mounted to said first block about a horizontal axis parallel to the'axis of rotation of the polishing device holder. 1

5. A machine as defined in claim 3, wherein said post is also mounted for rectilinear movement toward and away from the polishing device holder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 943,191 12/1909 Hull -30AX 1,966,459 6/1934 Beck 51-95 2,332,574 10/1943 Hopp 1e5 30x 3,457,680 7/1969 Kondo 51-59 HAROLD D. WHITEHEAD, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 125-30 

